A few dozen students protested at Cal State San Marcos Thursday afternoon asking school officials to do more to promote racial sensitivity on campus.

The students were reacting to a recent incident in which members of sorority posted pictures of themselves dressed as “cholas” on social networking sites. The students said the pictures were disrespectful and offensive toward Latinos.

The protest began outside the university’s Craven Hall and then shifted to outside President Karen Haynes’ office.

Karen Guzman, one of the organizers of the protest, said the recent photographs were just the latest in a series of racially offensive incidents, including graffiti discovered in several women’s restrooms on campus two years ago threatening gays, blacks and undocumented immigrants.

“For a lot of students of color, (the chola pictures incident) was just the tip of the iceberg,” Guzman said.

Arturo Ocampo, the university’s ombudsman and associate vice president of diversity, education equity and inclusion, met with the group during the sit-in and offered to set up a meeting to discuss the students’ concerns. He told them Haynes was attending other events Thursday afternoon.

Officials said they are taking the photographs seriously and that they are taking steps to address them, such as implementing sensitivity training among Greek organizations on campus and launching a Bias Incident Network to respond to future complaints of bias, hate and racism.

“We will continue to explore other recommendations on improving out campus climate,” said Margaret Lutz, a spokeswoman for the university. “We welcome all conversations and recommendations about what we can do as individuals and as a campus community.”

Some of the students protesting said they wanted a Latino student center on campus. They also want the university to add a Chicano Studies program and require students to take a class on social justice.

Karen Plascencia, one of the protesters, said she wanted the students who participated in the chola photographs to be required to do community service work.

“We don’t want the students to be punished. We want them to learn,” Plascencia said. “We want the administration to care and to host events on campus that encourage inclusivity and educate our students about tolerance toward every ethnicity, class and gender.”